Flights for Cargo and Charter

Category Archives: FSX

Nearly a year later and Dragonfly is still very much in action. Our growth has been small but very steady.

Some quick updates:

Smokey, our Bell 412, made it up to the San Juan Islands and is currently stationed out of WA35, Clam Harbor with it’s sister our original Bell 206B.

We have two more FBOs at larger airports.

One is 50D near Iron Mountain, Wisconsin. This serves clients in the northern Wisconsin area as well as serving as a direct line to 0MI5 in Houghton/Hancock in the U.P.

The other is 8U8 in Townsend, Montana. From here we are able to get clients into and out of the nearby mountainous regions or just get them home to Helena, Billings, etc.

Dragonfly Exploration has partnered up with a nearby Civil Air Patrol unit and given them a gate at 8U8. We regularly fly CAP missions for the group as needed with rental aircraft.

We’ve recently partnered with Heron Investigations. Heron will be housed out of what originally was the Dragonfly Nest based at Lake Monroe, Indiana. The central, Midwestern location benefits Heron’s work and Dragonfly pilots will be flying investigative teams wherever they may need to go. Another gate at 8U8 has been leased to them as well. We here at Dragonfly are pretty happy to be assisting Heron Investigations with their ground breaking and adventurous work. For more on Heron Investigations be sure to check out their upcoming page on this site.

CJ is pretty stoked about the recent find of a beautiful Grumman Goose in Hawaii. With the Grumman being one of his favorite planes, he personally flew down to the Paradise state to inspect her and, eventually, purchase her. She’s the newest addition to our fleet and CJ couldn’t be happier. He’s personally overseen her shipping from Lanai, Hawaii to Long Beach, California and will be flying her in a few days on an assignment with Heron Investigations.

We were able to pick up a very special Cessna 172 parked west of London about a month ago. The 172 will be taking part in a special event in the next few weeks. Until then, its on the ramp there for a dragonfly to use if needed.

We continue to have Dragonfly pilots flying bush flights all around the world.

There’s more to come. As we get our feet underneath us after a very busy year. Thanks for following along!

Just a quick note that Dragonfly is still up and running! I’ve not posted here in a long, long time but over on FSE there’s been a bunch of activity. Mainly, I’ve been focused on Dragonfly’s little base at Clam Harbor in the San Juan Isles as well as re-arranging the micro-fleet of vehicles a little better.

My plan is to re-think how I want to do things here with the blog and then get back to posting updates, screenshots and maybe some fiction. We’ll see how it all goes. I also would like, in the near future, to open the group up for some folks to join. More on that soon, I hope!

Just thought I’d put up a quick screenshot of the custom Dragonfly Exploration livery. Right now, all we have painted is CJ’s Bell 206. In time, we’ll get some of the others dressed up in something fancy!

The paint job is referenced from the Green Darner dragonfly which happens to be one of the most prolific in North America and the official state insect for the State of Washington.

In August, a respected client notified Dragonfly Exploration of a nearly mint Bell 412 that had been stored in a hanger in northern Washington State near the Canadian border at WA63. After flying out from the San Juan’s to have a look, CJ found the copter to be in excellent condition. After a brief test flight he purchased the Bell immediately and her first shakedown flight was a few miles south to R49 in Ferry county.

Intense wildfires were active in the area and CJ opted to stay in the area to see what help could be given with the 412. He didn’t have to wait long as a client contacted him regarding an immediate medical flight to the south and into Oregon. A team of about 4 firefighters, some exhausted, and 2 medics were being sent back to their base near the Columbia River with supplies. Another fire was burning in that area and they were needed there.

Of course, CJ agreed and within a day, the 412 was on her initial assignment flying through the mountains and the smoke and haze of the nearby fires. Due to her current paint job and the assignment, CJ dubbed her “Smokey.”

CJ followed WA-21 southward and skirted the edge of the North Star fire burning heavily along the whole area. The passengers were quiet as they studied the smoke and the fire line. CJ was asked to radio an update to the North Star fire HQ but otherwise the flight was uneventful with a clear day and gentle winds. CJ eased Smokey down at R49 and stretched his legs a bit.

He was happy to report that Smokey had performed solidly the whole flight.

While Duffy and a few others handled things up in the San Juan, CJ let us know that he’d be staying in the area to pick up more runs and to rub the rest of the dust off Smokey. His plans were to head west to Portland, see a friend and make a few runs in the area before bringing Smokey home to WA35.